Category: Gym

Despite the benefits of regular exercise – more energy, boosted metabolism, decreased appetite, increased strength, improved mood – many people continue to experience anxiety just at the thought of going to a gym, and the reasons are just as many.

Finding ways to work out while traveling can be difficult- but here are five workouts you can do in a short amount of time, that don’t require equipment, meaning they are perfect for traveling or doing anywhere!

High Intensity Interval Training: Focuses on short periods of all-out work follow by short periods of active rest. This makes the body work harder than it does during steady-state cardio. Some great examples: Tuck Jump, Lunges, Squat Jumps, Mountain Climber, Burpees, Sprints, and Planks.

Pilates: While you can do Pilates with a reformer or props, you can also do it with just your body weight. It can be just as effective using only your weight and is another great program you can do anywhere. Popular moves to try: Bridges, Leg lifts, T-Press, toe taps, Arm Circles, and push ups.

Circuit Training: You can put together your favorite circuit to get your heart rate up, burn fat and get a good workout in 30 mins or less. Set up 2 circuits that you do for 10 mins each with a warm up and cool down of 5 mins of each for a great 30 min workout. Remember circuit training is all about no rest in between exercises. Choose exercises such as high knees, lunges, push ups, squats, and planks.

Go for a run: Most hotels have a treadmill but you can also take to the streets using one of the million running apps that are available and find a trail near you. It’s a great way to get a cardio workout and see the sites of wherever you are visiting.

Yoga: While yoga is normally done on a mat, it can also be done on carpet or any soft surface. Whether you are a beginner or experienced, yoga is great to improve your flexibility and muscle strength. Some great moves to add to your next workout: Cobra pose, warrior pose, downward dog, airplane pose, one legged prayer, and childs pose.

Finding quick and simple workouts that you can do anywhere including on the road are the perfect way to stay on target with your health and fitness goals.

You have probably done Yoga but have you ever tried Hot Yoga? Hot Yoga adds a whole new level of difficulty along with the benefits of detoxification, flexibility, de-stressing, and more. If you have never tried hot yoga and want to give it a try here are some tips to prepare for Hot Yoga.

There are a lot of factors that go into finding the best workout for your body. A workout program should be developed around a person’s biology, age, goals, diet, time, etc. Developing a workout routine for yourself can be nerve-racking but its really not difficult and can be a game changer once you understand the basics. When it comes to full body workouts, you are basically doing the same basic movement patterns and just adding weight or making the movement more advanced. The basic movement patterns include:

Working out during the hotter summer months can make you want to retreat to the indoors and avoid going outside until fall. However, with some minor adjustments, you can maintain your routines and stay fit. If you are going to train outdoors, you will want to avoid the hottest parts of the day, which are from around 11 a.m. until 5 p.m.

It is recommended to work out early in the morning before heading off to work. Not only is it much cooler outside, your body will have increased energy and higher cognitive functioning throughout the day. If you are unable to get to your routines at this time, consider doing them in the evening after the sun has started to set.

If you are a night owl, you could even get in your workout routines in the evening, when it is much cooler. Just remember to wear reflective, brightly colored, or white clothing, and carry a flashlight to make it easier for motorists to see you.

One viable alternative for summertime workouts is to spend more time swimming and in the pool. There are plenty of water-type physical fitness exercises you can perform to help maintain and improve your abilities.

Regardless of the outdoor routines you prefer, remember to slather on the sunscreen and reapply frequently to protect your skin. You should also wear a baseball cap to shade your eyes, and UV protectant sunglasses. Take time to rehydrate yourself while working out by drinking plenty of water. Most people suggest drinking a small amount every fifteen minutes.

If you simply cannot handle the heat of the outdoors, look for a gym or fitness center in your area that offers short-term summer memberships. These facilities offer the comforts of air conditioning and access to a wide array of equipment you can use to ensure your entire body gets the attention it needs.

If you are finding it hard to stay motivated, even with these various options, try implementing these tips:

Start listening to music to liven up your mood and motivate you to exercise.

Take time out to reward yourself for reaching fitness goals. Schedule a massage, go shopping, have a “cheat” day, or anything else you like.

Set easy-to-obtain goals. During the summer months, you will want to adjust your short-term and long-term goals. It can be harder to set higher demands on your body and, if you fall short, you can be discouraged and lose your motivation. For instance, if a short-term goal is to shed 10 pounds in a month, you might want to adjust this to losing a minimum of a pound a week for 10 weeks.

Don’t punish yourself if you skip working out for a day or two. If it is simply too hot outside, and you need to stay indoors, avoid feeling guilty about it. Instead, do some pushups, sit ups, or house cleaning to get in some physical activity.

After intensive workouts during the summer and throughout the rest of the year, remember to refuel your body with workout and sports nutrition bars from Promax Nutrition. Order yours today online, or call us at (888) 728-8962 for further help in selecting the right bars to fit your needs.

Olympians are the best athletes in the world. If you’re looking for amazing displays of just what the human body is capable of doing, there’s no better place to look. Of course, getting to the level of an Olympian isn’t easy; it takes a combination of natural talent and years of dedicated training it be able to do what those athletes do.

Not everyone has the natural talent, but anyone can take an example from the training that Olympians use to get in peak physical shape, and apply it to their own workout routines.

Proper Diet

What, did you think training to be an Olympian was all springs and weight lifting? Any Olympic athlete or trainer can tell you that just important to getting into shape is proper diet and hydration.

Specifically, Olympians eat a breakfast rich in carbohydrates and lean protein, and keep eating every 3-4 hours (and within 90 minutes of every workout). Also, they drink lots of fluids. LOTS of fluids. On a typical day, an Olympian drinks half their own body weight in water, plus sports drinks rich in electrolytes after workouts.

Warm-Up and Recovery

Also important to developing the perfect Olympic training regimen is understanding the role warm-ups and recovery exercises play. A typical Olympic warm-up includes 10 minutes of jogging or jumping rope, followed by 10-15 minutes of dynamic warm-ups (skipping, reverse lunges, or other exercises that improve flexibility and coordination, and prevent injuries).

Once the workout is finished, Olympians always make sure to follow up with recovery techniques to reduce soreness and keep the body limber – foam rolling, massage, and stretches are a must.

Planning and Mental Training

It’s always a good idea to have a specific fitness goal in mind, so that you have something to work toward and a way to measure your progress. Like with everything else, Olympians take this to the next level.

Most Olympic athletes plan their training schedules years in advance (four years in advance, to be precise), and then stick with that schedule from the time one year’s Games end and another begins.

While most people may not have the time or discipline to stick to a four-year plan like that, they can still follow Olympians’ example by setting a specific goal for themselves, and a timeframe in which they want to meet it. Training like an Olympian requires exercising your brain and willpower, as much as your muscles.

Diversify Your Routine

Most athletes may focus on one particular event, but that doesn’t mean that they keep their training confined to just one of exercise. Runners don’t just run – they do sit ups, pull ups, ball exercises, and sometimes even take ballet. To be the best physically, you need to build all your muscles and train your entire body.

Training like an Olympian starts with the perfect diet. Promax Nutrition sports nutrition bars are designed to provide athletes with the perfect mix of proteins and nutrients, and come in a variety of flavors and formulas to meet your needs. Want to learn more? Contact us today.

Before explaining the benefits of burpees, it is important to share what exactly a burpee is, for those who have never heard of this exercise. A burpee is a six-count intense exercise movement, which combines squats and push-ups into an intensive singular movement, where you go from a standing position, to a squat, to a plank position, then perform a push-up and finally, reversing the order until you are standing.

Performing burpees as part of your normal workout routine does have several benefits. However, before attempting this intensive exercise, it is highly recommended you have someone there to supervise, as well as get permission from your healthcare provider, if you are not in peak physical condition. Some of the benefits you can gain by doing burpees, and repeating them in quick succession, as many times as possible before tiring include:

Increases Endurance – Since burpees are performed quickly, and rely upon the entire movement of the body and all of your body weight, they are considered a “high-load” exercise. In addition, most people can perform as many as 15 complete burpees in just a 30 second period. Due to the high repetitions in a short period of time and high weight load, they are an effective exercise to use to increase endurance.

Promotes Weight Loss – Burpees can help you lose weight (fat) because you are moving the muscles throughout the entire body and burning a large number of calories. When you burn more calories than you consume, it results in a reduction in body fat.

Increases Strength – Since burpees push you through a wide range of strength building exercises, namely push-ups and squats, they help increase muscle mass and muscle strength. Not only does muscular strength in the legs and arms increase, but also the back, hips, stomach, and more.

Improves Anaerobic Capacity – Burpees raise your heart rate in a short period of time, thereby contributing to anaerobic exercise training. During anaerobic training the body tends to produce energy with limited or without oxygen assistance. Doing burpees frequently can help increase your anaerobic capacity, and lead to improved heart and lung health.

For beginners, it is highly recommended to move through the burpee motions slowly at a regular pace, and gradually increase the speed in which you complete them as you become more comfortable. The last thing you want to do is cause an injury to your body because you tried to quickly move through unfamiliar motions.

If you are having problems performing burpees with your hands firmly on the floor, some beginners rely upon a step, bench, or box for support. As you become more proficient, then you should gradually lower the height of the support until you are doing burpees directly on the floor.

As your body starts to peak with regular burpees, you should consider one of several different burpee variations to make your reps more challenging, to continue to gain further benefits. After any intense workout, including burpees, remember to refuel your body with energy bars and protein bars ordered from Promax Nutrition by calling (888) 728-8962 now.

Lifting weights is a great way to build muscles fast while also slimming down and getting the physique you’ve always wanted. But if you make mistakes while weight training, especially when it comes to your form, you could end up injuring yourself and doing more harm than good.

What are the biggest weightlifting mistakes that you should avoid? Keep reading to learn how to have a safe and effective workout every time you hit the gym.

Using Weights That Are Too Heavy

Even though you may think that the heavier the weights you lift, the bigger and better your gains will be, the truth is that form and technique should come before poundage. A lot of bodybuilders end up using weights that they simply can’t manage properly and safely.

Stick with a manageable amount of weight until you can execute the technique perfectly, whether you’re working your back, legs, chest, or arms.

A good way to figure out where your poundage should be is by cutting back on all of the weights you’re currently using by 10%. Then make sure you have perfect form and technique before adding in some more weight gradually over the course of a month or more. This should result in new muscle growth.

Adding Too Many Pounds At Once

Another common mistake is adding too much poundage too quickly. You could hurt yourself and sacrifice your form if you’re adding 5-10 or more pounds to your routine.

Instead, add a pound at a time over the course of a week or more. Remember, after you’ve gotten over the beginner stage, you’ll be building strength more slowly, so you need to be patient and add poundage in a way that will allow your body to respond positively.

Not Giving Your Body Enough Recovery Time

Overworking your muscles every week, without giving them enough time to recover and repair, could tax the nervous system, reduce your performance, and cause sleep disturbances, depression, and other symptoms of overtraining. Over time, you could actually lose strength.

In addition to getting enough sleep and eating right by supplementing with healthy protein like that found in high quality protein bars, you should give your muscles 48 to 96 hours to recover from an intense weight lifting session.

The older you are, the more time you’ll need to recover. Also, larger muscles require longer recovery periods than smaller muscles.

A good place to start is to train three days per week. By splitting your overall workout program into three sections, you can hit each muscle group every week.

So, for example, on day 1, you might do your back and chest. On day 2, you can work on your lower body. On day 3, you can focus on the core and arms. Regularly change the routine to keep your body guessing.

By avoiding weightlifting mistakes, you can enjoy the gains that you’ve been waiting to show off. Remember that taking care of your body today will result in a healthier, stronger, and slimmer body tomorrow.

For more information about Promax products that can help you boost the power of your workouts, check out our product page or our blog.

Technology marches on, right? We’re constantly trying new workouts, downloading new fitness apps, and jumping on the next hot trend that comes along. But is it really necessary, or did we figure out some of the best exercises quite a while ago? Sure, some fitness regimens from yesteryear have been debunked, but that doesn’t mean they’re all unusable. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it—so here are some old school exercises that definitely aren’t broke. Throw them into your routine and see if you can feel the difference.

The Forearm Roller

A lot of us end up missing our forearms when we work out. A forearm workout just doesn’t seem as important as an extra set of curls, but if you want your arms to look proportional, then it’s wise to get in a forearm exercise. The forearm roller is the best way to hit the muscles in your forearms, and it’s about as simple as you can get. On one end of a rope you tie a round wooden peg, and at the other end, a weight. Holding onto the peg with both hands out in front of you, you simply roll the peg until the rope is all the way wound, and the weight has nowhere to go. Then slowly reverse, letting the weight drop back down.

Wide Grip Pull Ups

Pull-ups are a classic exercise that doesn’t require weights, but you can start adding difficulty by holding weights between your legs. Most people now favor lat pull downs, but the wide grip pull up is still a fantastic way to work your back, and with the addition of weight, you’ll see some real gains if you put in the work.

Pushup Variations

You can’t really get more old school than the pushup. You might start thinking about warming up for gym class when you hear someone mention pushups, but they are still one of the most effective additions to your workout. But don’t just get down and quickly rep out as many as you can. Start doing decline pushups to get some variation, and just like the pull-ups, you can add weight to your sets to push yourself and build mass.

Seated Cable Row

The seated cable row is an intense workout for your back, especially your lats. The trick is to make sure you get the largest range of motion, going all the way down and letting the weight pull your lats. This one has also gone out of style over the years, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less effective.

Some lifts and exercises may come and go, but one thing that doesn’t change is the need for proper nutrition before and after any workout routine. Whether you check out the latest workouts and regimens, or like to keep it old school, Promax has a protein bar for you. So whatever your fitness needs, Promax has you covered.

Maybe you were cooped up in the gym, running on the treadmill all winter, or maybe the warmer weather is just calling your name. Whatever the case, you’re probably looking to get outside and exercise this spring. Compared to the winter cold, the weather might look amazing right now, but no matter how much we wish it were summer, we’re not quite there yet. Spring training comes with its own set of challenges, and the weather is issue number one. Depending on where you live, it may not be quite as warm as you’d like, or you might be getting buckets of rain every week. Fortunately, Promax has your back, and we’ve gathered together some of the best gear for your spring training sessions.

Nike LunarEpic Flyknit

Nike is hailing these as the future of running, and their futuristic look is pretty impressive. If you’re looking for a new running shoe this spring, you may want to check out the LunarEpic. The sock-like upper is designed to feel like a natural extension of your leg, and the one-piece construction is woven for maximum comfort and breathability on your runs this spring.

Adidas Run Pack-Dye Jacket

This women’s jacket is light and breathable, with an uneven finish that sets it apart from anything else out there. The jacket comes with thumb holes, a full-zip hood, and UV protection, so when the weather gets rough, you’ll be ready to run right through it. The lightweight material also packs easily, so you won’t have any trouble stowing it if the sun makes an appearance.

These socks, available for both men and women, are made for running. They feature a perfect anatomical fit and minimal padding for a perfect fit that easily slides into even your tightest running shoes. They also have antibacterial odor reducing properties, and are made with polypropylene—which doesn’t absorb moisture into the fibers. These socks are perfect for your spring workouts, whatever weather you happen to be facing.

Under Armour Patterned Long-sleeve

Made from Under Armour Tech™ material, this long-sleeve has a looser fit than the compressions that many people associate with UA. The material is quick drying and incredibly soft, making it the perfect long-sleeve shirt for when the weather hasn’t quite warmed up as much you might like. The fabric also has technology to prevent the growth of odor-causing microbes and keep you smelling fresh.

Spring weather can turn on a dime, but it’s up to you to get out and make the most of the warming weather if you want to get yourself in shape for summer. Getting yourself some new gear is a smart way to prepare for whatever spring weather you encounter. But you’ll also need some help recovering after a grueling run or workout, so head over to Promax and check out our protein bars. With so many great choices, there’s a Promax protein bar for everyone.